62 Perceptive

The sun cast a reddish hue in the sky as it slowly dipped below the horizon, casting a small shadow on the verdant green school field where some students frolicked.

Cheerleaders, dressed in their red and white full shells, and jocks in their similarly colored training gear, hung around the place chatting, throwing smiles and laughs as if they were having great times.

...If only it were true...

From where I sat on the bleachers, I could see it all—the forced smile on one of the cheerleaders' faces as she spoke to one of the jocks who was happily talking with a bright smile, obviously ecstatic to be in her company, thinking she felt the same.

How her nose occasionally scrunched up slightly, the corner of her eyes twitching, her fingers scratching her palms, or even how she sometimes unconsciously shifted her head slightly to the sides, as if searching for someone to save her.

All of them little or subtle signs of her overall displeasure at his company and even disgust of his person. And it wasn't just her, most of the cheerleaders, especially the freshmen, behaved this way.

They all had little, let's say, ticks or signs they gave off that revealed how they really felt deep inside, body symptoms so tiny that they themselves didn't realize what they were doing.

Even the guys. I could almost literally see their tiny egos or masculine pride inflating as they told cringey jokes, standing straight like ostriches to emphasize their toned muscles to make themselves bigger and all that, most of them compensating for something.

But I could. I could see it all. The profound unpleasantness and discomfort they had buried deep inside, hiding it all behind a facade of wide smiles, chuckles, and even hints of interest.

My mind could pick it all up now, even the smallest details, from the subliminal messages in a person's body language to even a person's tone, whether he or she was lying, telling the truth, hiding a secret, etc.

It was riveting, being able to do this now, but at the same time, it made everything less colorful. After all, more often than not, I could identify a person's insecurities, their fears, their passion, fears, etc., just by having a single conversation with them.

And this only served to fill my head with a ton of dark intrusive but logically feasible thoughts that sometimes scared the crap out of me. Also, it kinda took all the fun away from, you know, talking and all that socializing stuff because by the end of the day, I'd know more about the person than they even know about themselves.

But well, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, so it was all good. The benefits I enjoyed from my enhanced mind far outweighed these trivialities.

...Besides, I rather enjoyed my new perspective...it made everyone so predictable.

Shifting my eyes, I caught sight of Claire as she came out of the Sports building's other entrance, linking it to the field, wearing her dark brown jacket over her black T-shirt, and tight jeans instead of her full shell, a refreshed look on her face. Her brown bag hanging from her shoulder.

She beamed at me when we made eye contact and quickened her pace towards me. Smiling at her, I lazily descended to the ground, my left hand clutching one of the shoulder straps.

"You ready to go now?" I asked as she reached me, catching a whiff of her perfume.

"Yeah, sorry I took so long," She nodded and apologized casually, sighing softly. "Had to get rid of the dirt in my hair."

"Yeah yeah, I get it. Don't wanna hear the details," I rolled my eyes at her, and she flashed me a sheepish smile as I turned. "Can we please just go now?"

She shrugged nonchalantly in response and stepped to grab my left arm, sticking her body to mine with a mischievous smile plastered on her face, "Lead the way."

Glancing at her facial expression, I shook my head with a small smile and started walking, Claire right by my side.

As we walked out of the school field, ignoring the looks some of the students gave us, I couldn't help but sigh internally as I glanced at her, noting how relaxed and happy she was at our proximity, and also the sensation of her soft boobs pressing on my arm, thinking of the time that had passed.

A little more than a week had passed since my uh, experiment, and during this time, I'd requested more and more shots of healing blood from Claire to aid in my training.

Because of this as well as some other factors, well, you could say there has been a very interesting development in our relationship.

In Claire's own, weirdly true words, we were more connected than ever, bending the boundaries of our first platonic relationship.

...Now, as far as I could tell, Claire now had a huge crush on me, and I mean a very huge crush on me. A glaring fact, she wasn't trying so hard to conceal to my initial surprise.

It was like she didn't want me to know but at the same time, she did, taking the initiative to touch me with the tiniest of reasons or even sometimes throwing in ambiguous flirty words in our conversations, etcetera.

Creating this whole weird dynamic in our relationship where I pretend to be oblivious, and she responds with more enthusiasm. An exciting game of sorts, one I secretly enjoyed.

She was afraid of rejection and more importantly, extremely terrified about the possibility of our friendship ending in the event of the rejection. But she couldn't be more wrong.

The same way she had felt about me, that was the same way I felt about her. I didn't want to admit it at first but after getting mental clarity due to the whole 'enhancement' debacle, I had to accept my feelings.

We'd been through a lot together, her sacrificing and risking a lot for me with little to no hesitation whatsoever, making it very hard not to attract feelings for her. Plus, the fact that we had a lot in common and understood each other very well.

And it also didn't help that she was hot, funny, intelligent, and the fact that we spent like ninety percent of our time together, now more than ever.

So yeah, I could ask her out right now, and she'd agree without skipping a beat but I wasn't ready yet. I had a lot of things to do, plans to put in motion, and foundations to build in this world before I'd feel secure to commit to a full-time relationship.

I now had the strength to protect myself without fear and even to some extent her but now just wasn't the time. It would come, probably sooner than I expected, so for now, it was best to let it fester or deepen. Maybe, she wasn't the one and I'd change my mind later on.

...Only time could tell...

"Hey, can I tell you something?" She looked up at me and asked softly as we reached the school's parking lot. "Something very important?"

"Of course," I nodded seriously at her and remarked as we reached my car. "Whatever you're thinking about, just lay it on me." I smiled warmly at her, inserting my car keys into the door.

She released my arm and nodded gently, a grateful smile on her face, and said as I opened

the door, "...I've been thinking about my mom lately, my biological mom. With everything that's going on with my dad and all that, I think it's time I got to know who she is."

"True, true, it's about time you did," I concurred, nodding, turning to face her with a supportive smile. "I'll help. Besides, we can't have you thinking of that subordinate of your dad's each time you try to picture her."

"...Exactly, you're right. I can't keep thinking of her, makes me more pissed off at him when I remember it being just another lie," She nodded, a light frown marring her face. But then it disappeared, a bright smile taking its place. "By the way, thanks. Knew I could count on you."

"Anytime Claire, anytime," I flashed her a smile and gestured her to the other side of the car with my head. "Now, get in. We have places to go." I entered my car.

She walked to the other side and opened the door, stepping inside, as I activated the engine of the car, releasing a short roar.

"My place right?" I asked as she closed her door, pressing a button to roll all the windows.

"Duh, of course. Where else would I want to be?" She rolled her eyes and asked rhetorically, wearing her seatbelt.

"Oh, I dunno, your home?" I answered sarcastically as I wore mine, giving her a deadpan look.

"...You know why," She remarked quietly, turning her head to look outside, her tone meaningful.

Seeing this, I sighed and pressed on the gas pedal, gazing at the rearview mirror as I slowly moved the car out of the parking lot.

After telling her about her dad and the Company, she was finding it hard to connect with her dad like she once did, especially when she had to lie and pretend as if she didn't know anything at all. They rarely talked now, and if they did, she only gave him one-word answers.

Because of that, for the past week, she'd been spending a lot of time at my house, and I mean a lot. It was almost like she was my roommate now.

My dad didn't mind this, hell, he encouraged it, but Mr. Bennet not so much. I could still remember the stink eye he gave me a couple of days ago when I went to her house, as if I'd stolen all his money or something.

It had created this whole drama-ish situation, something I so didn't want in my life right now, but sadly, I essentially created it so I had to deal with it. However long I could...

"Sorry for asking. Let's just go and watch a movie or something."

"You read my mind."

With that, I moved the car out of the school and drove away, heading towards my house...